Review: Metaltown by Kristen Simmons

From Goodreads: The rules of Metaltown are simple: Work hard, keep your head down, and watch your back. You look out for number one, and no one knows that better than Ty. She’s been surviving on the factory line as long as she can remember. But now Ty has Colin. She’s no longer alone; it’s the two of them against the world. That’s something even a town this brutal can’t take away from her. Until it does. Lena’s future depends on her family’s factory, a beast that demands a ruthless master, and Lena is prepared to be as ruthless as it takes if it means finally proving herself to her father. But when a chance encounter with Colin, a dreamer despite his circumstances, exposes Lena to the consequences of her actions, she’ll risk everything to do what’s right. In Lena, Ty sees an heiress with a chip on her shoulder. Colin sees something more. In a world of disease and war, tragedy and betrayal, allies and enemies, all three of them must learn that challenging what they thought was true can change all the rules.

My Rating: 3 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: Metaltown by Kristen Simmons was a book I was attracted to due to the steampunkish vibe I got from the cover. I also loved the premise, but the worldbuilding could definitely have been expanded upon. The gist is clear – a world that depends on child labour, contains a scarcity of food and clean water, and is suffering from a war – but there’s a serious lack of other details, making the setting in Metaltown hard to imagine visually.

More attention was given to the romance instead, which thankfully never turned into a love triangle since Ty’s feelings for Colin were never reciprocated. As for the characters, I wasn’t completely thrilled with either Colin or Lena because Colin seemed to ditch Ty once he met Lena and I felt like Lena only fell for Colin because he was the first guy to be nice to her. Ty was the most interesting out of the three so it was maddening to see how things ended for her after there was so much buildup with her importance.

Metaltown was released in September 2016 by Tor Teen. 

Comments About the Cover: Even though the cover seems to give off a steampunk vibe, the book itself is more of a dystopian novel.

Mini Reviews: Hollyweird by Terri Clark and Article 5 by Kristen Simmons

From Goodreads: My best friend, Des, and I totally freaked when we won the contest to meet THE Dakota Danvers in Hollywood. But now we’re finding out he’s SO not the angel everyone believes him to be. In fact, Dakota is the son of Satan, wreaking havoc on Hollywood and creating an evil army hellbent on world domination. Lucky for us, Dakota’s super-cute personal assistant, Jameson, is a fallen angel trying to get his wings back, and he’s working undercover to squash his demon boss’s plan. If Jameson hadn’t taken me under his wing I’d be in serious trouble, because I’m a total newb when it comes to conquering evil. But, truth be told, that sexy angel’s got me all aflutter and may be one temptation I can’t resist.

My Rating: 3.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: Hollyweird by Terri Clark is a book that delivers what it’s supposed to: a fun and light story from the viewpoints of one girl who meets a celebrity that turns out to be a demon and the celebrity’s personal assistant who’s a fallen angel determined to get his wings back by stopping his boss’ unknown evil plan. Although the romance between Aly and Jameson was a little instantaneous (but cute), the characters were rather ordinary, and they sometimes seemed to sound like an adult instead of a teen; the writing was entertaining and made me laugh occasionally. I especially enjoyed how Clark incorporated the names of some celebrities into her story and the reactions of Aly, Des and Missy when they succumbbed to the seven sins. I’d have fallen prey to gluttony and greed myself!

Hollyweird was released on May 8, 2012 by Flux Books.

In exchange for an honest review, this ARC was received from the publisher (Flux Books) for free via NetGalley.

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From Goodreads: New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., have been abandoned. The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes. There are no more police - instead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad behavior - instead, there are arrests, trials, and maybe worse. People who get arrested usually don't come back. Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren't always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it's hard for her to forget that people weren't always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. It's hard to forget that life in the United States used to be different. Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs, like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes, and how to pass the random home inspections by the military. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow. That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings - the only boy Ember has ever loved. 

My Rating: 4 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: Article 5 by Kristen Simmons is an action-filled dystopian set after the U.S. as we know it is gone and the Bill of Rights replaced by the Moral Statutes. Although I thought Simmons did a good job of depicting Ember’s world, it was never explained how this version of the U.S. came about and what happened to make people so willing to accept the terrible conditions of their lived reality. This question bothered me the entire time I was reading Article 5 so it’s a good thing the novel is full of action that distracts you from thinking about its iffy worldbuilding.

I thought the characterization was much more developed; and I liked both Ember and Chase. Even though Ember was sort of naïve and made stupid choices (e.g. running away from Chase when it’s obvious that he’s only trying to keep her safe and knows so much more about surviving on the run than her) which annoyed me, I liked that she had focus, adapted to situations, and wasn’t afraid to take risks. Ember's memories of Chase before he became a soldier not only allows you to realize just how deeply Chase’s betrayal has hurt her, but also lets you see later on how much his experience in the military has broken Chase. His relationship with Ember therefore was full of misunderstandings due to a lack of communication (and mistrust on her part) but did develop nicely over the course of the novel.

Recommended for fans of Marie Lu’s Legend and Veronica Roth’s Divergent, Article 5 was released in January 2012 by Tor Teen.